Fitness-for-all push reaps benefits

For Wang Lin, an avid soccer enthusiast, playing on the pitch of the Northeastern Super League feels like a childhood dream come true. The 39-year-old homestay owner in Shenyang, Liaoning province, now follows a disciplined fitness routine to stay in shape for the game.

"Since joining the tournament in May, training has become a key priority for me," Wang said. "I dedicate about two hours each session, three times a week, to fitness workouts, running and soccer drills, which help me overcome the inactivity that often sets in during middle age."

Months of intensive training have paid off. Wang has shed seven kilograms, with his beer belly giving way to a lean, toned midsection. "After watching the videos I posted, many people realize that even in their 30s or 40s, they can still step onto the pitch and keep their love for sports alive," he added.

The ongoing league, China's first cross-provincial amateur soccer tournament, draws participants like Wang from the three northeastern provinces of Liaoning, Jilin and Heilongjiang, as well as the Inner Mongolia autonomous region.

Wang noted that the ordinary backgrounds of the players, who include college students and office workers, make the tournament highly relatable for audiences, giving it stronger public appeal than a professional match.

The event not only offers amateurs a stage to pursue their dreams, but also motivates many more people to develop a love for sports and build up their fitness level, he added.

Wang's passion for soccer mirrors the country's long-standing commitment to promoting fitness for all as a way to improve people's health.

As Saturday marks China's 18th National Fitness Day, an annual campaign aimed at ingraining the concept of national fitness in people's minds and promoting regular physical activity, years of persistent nationwide fitness initiatives have borne fruit, with millions of ordinary citizens embracing sports as part of their daily routine.

From neighborhood soccer pitches to marathon starting lines and even skating rinks, the enthusiasm for fitness has become widespread, and President Xi Jinping is one of the keenest sports enthusiasts.

Xi developed a love for sports such as skating and soccer at an early age. "The exercise I did in my childhood laid the foundation for my good health today," he once recalled.

Later, his love for sports went beyond personal growth. In 1984, as Party chief of Zhengding county in Hebei province, Xi spearheaded the county's first-ever mass sports games, attracting more than 1,300 participants.

At a time when local authorities elsewhere were solely focused on economic development, Xi recognized that organizing the mass sports event carried profound significance for enhancing the people's happiness. "The people's wallets are to grow fuller, their minds richer, and their bodies healthier," he said.

Xi has carried forward this commitment through every stage of his political career. In Fujian province, he helped put in place new trails and lampposts on a mountain popular with hikers. In Zhejiang province, he guided the wider opening of public sports facilities and school sports venues for the people. In Shanghai, he directed preparations for the 2007 Special Olympics World Summer Games, advancing the cause of sports for people with disabilities.

Now, as China's top leader, he has always placed the health and happiness of Chinese people in a pivotal position in the overall governance of the country. "Chinese modernization is closely linked with public health," he once said. "A healthy nation requires mass participation in sports, and strong competitive sports are built on a solid foundation of public fitness."

Heeding Xi's call, China elevated the fitness-for-all campaign to a national strategy in 2014. Since 2016, the country has rolled out three successive targeted five-year plans to systematically advance public fitness.

The latest one was released in July, with clear targets for improving public fitness by 2030. According to the plan, the country aims to increase per capita sports venue space to about 4 square meters and raise the proportion of residents who exercise regularly to around 40 percent.

Ma Liang, a professor at Peking University's School of Government, noted that high-level emphasis on national fitness campaigns can effectively drive coordinated efforts from government departments at all levels, fostering a sounder environment for promoting public fitness.

Ma said it is imperative to improve the accessibility and affordability of fitness facilities and services, enabling more people to benefit from regular physical exercise and inclusive national fitness initiatives.

China's sustained investment has delivered tangible results. By the end of 2025, the country had more than 5 million sports venues, with over 38.5 percent of residents exercising regularly, according to the General Administration of Sport.

Meanwhile, the results of a national physical fitness monitoring survey were released late last year, revealing that 84.9 percent of respondents met the basic fitness criteria, up 0.8 percentage point from 2020. It was in this survey that China first introduced the "excellence rate" as a core composite metric for physical fitness, with 30.9 percent of respondents attaining a good or excellent rating.

The new metric not only mirrors the across-the-board increase in the general public's physical fitness, but also guides people to continuously improve their physical condition and strive for higher standards of physical wellness, said Feng Qiang, deputy director of the China Institute of Sport Science's National Physical Fitness and Scientific Exercise Research Center.

Nowadays, sports activities have become an integral part of people's daily lives. In addition to mainstream sports including basketball, soccer, badminton and swimming, once-niche activities such as roller skating and road cycling have gained massive popularity among the public.

Feng also called on more sports fans to shift from being mere spectators to becoming active participants, channeling their enthusiasm into regular exercise and healthy lifestyles. He noted that such endeavors will generate far-reaching ripple effects, especially in boosting sports consumption and fueling high-quality socioeconomic progress.

The most vivid illustration of this prospect is China's delivery of the ambitious goal that President Xi put forward during Beijing's bid for the 2022 Winter Olympic Games: to engage 300 million people in ice and snow activities.

The commitment was realized even before the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics kicked off, and public participation in winter sports has continued to grow ever since. Between Nov 1, 2025, and Jan 31, 2026, alone, ski resorts nationwide recorded 118 million visits, according to the General Administration of Sport.

Zhu Yongguo, dean of the Ice and Snow Sports College at the Capital University of Physical Education and Sports, said the legacy of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics still lives on among the public, and the growing popularity of ice and snow sports keeps injecting new momentum into the country's fitness-for-all drive.

Zhu, also president of the Beijing Curling Association, cited curling as a vivid example of how the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics' dividends can reach ordinary citizens, saying it yields tangible fitness benefits while remaining approachable for people of all physical conditions and from all age groups.

Wu Yong in Shenyang contributed to this story.

jihaisheng@chinadaily.com.cn